


This Darkness (Your Company is the Light)

by ShadowWrites



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Other, Post-Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Romance, Spoilers, emotions are hard, gamora needs a friend, rocket is less of an a-hole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 06:39:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11480778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowWrites/pseuds/ShadowWrites
Summary: Things haven't been the same among the Guardians since the Ego event, and Gamora is feeling the effects. Sometimes all you need to conquer the darkness surrounding you is a little light in the form of a bowl of fruit and an unlikely companion.





	This Darkness (Your Company is the Light)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a lovely friend!
> 
> Enjoy! Let me know what you think, comments give me life!
> 
> (To see more of my writing, check out my tumblr link in the notes at the end!)

Things had been quiet around the  _Milano_  for a while, now. The death of Ego had taken its toll on Peter, to be sure, only to be compounded upon by the loss of  Yondu  so soon after his biological father’s demise.  Gamora  didn’t quite understand how a person could be so broken up over such a loss, but then  again  she hardly knew what the word “father” even meant. All she knew was that it was best to leave Peter to grieve in peace.

The ship was a decent size, but with a team the size of the Guardians, it was hard to ever find somewhere to be alone. Unless she was content with remaining cooped up in her quarters for hours on end-which she most surely was not- Gamora  was sure to run into someone out in the main areas of the vessel.   Not that she particularly minded. It wouldn’t do her any good to hide herself away in this sort of mood anyway. 

Gamora  wandered around the ship, giving a nod to Drax as she passed by. The two of them functioned as a team, yes, but they weren’t exceptionally close, so she didn’t linger to make conversation. The sound of music could be heard blasting down the hall, and the warrior rolled her eyes.  Apparently  Groot, in all his adolescent angst, had “forgotten” to close his door while playing his stereo. Again. A few steps further brought  Gamora  to the lounge, where she found Mantis perched neatly in a seat against the wall, and quickened her pace to leave before the other Guardian had the chance to strike up what was sure to be an agonizing conversation, if the last few they had shared were anything to go by.

A nearby rustling caught her attention, and without pausing to think about her actions,  Gamora  found herself turning left into the kitchen. Rocket didn’t even so much as budge from his position on the counter, elbow deep in a bag of some sort of crunchy snack, the word “Peter” written in black ink across the logo.  Gamora  glanced to the left, where a sign was posted against the wall with the words “Eat Your Own Food” written prominently in red across it.

“Doubt he’ll even miss it,” Rocket grunted in reply to the warrior’s pointed look.  Gamora  couldn’t keep the smirk from her lips. Peter did tend to hog most of the food for himself, so it wasn’t as if this should be  unexpected.  After a minute or so, Rocket reluctantly offered the bag toward  Gamora , who shook her head in silent refusal. Rocket looked pleased as he drew the bag in closer once more, one arm curled around it in a manner that was nothing short of protective.

It was such a mundane act, yet  Gamora  knew it meant much more than common courtesy-mainly because Rocket didn’t have any. Peter wasn’t the only one who had changed, and whatever Rocket had experienced during the Ego event had turned him into a different person. Well, maybe that was being too generous, he still was-and most likely always would be-a selfish asshole. But unlike before, when Rocket was only looking over his own shoulder, he had learned how to watch more backs than just his own. He had actually learned how to be a functional part of a team.  Gamora  glanced at the stolen snacks in the Guardian’s grip once again. Okay,  _mostly_  part of a team.

“’Sides,” the sound of Rocket’s voice snapped  Gamora  from her musings, “it serves Quill right. His head’s been up in the clouds for weeks now. Everybody’s starting to get restless.”

“ So  your solution is to eat all of his food?” She asked. 

“Sure. Soon enough we’ll run out of the goods and he’ll have to land us somewhere to restock. Knowing this group of assholes, it’ll take us about twenty minutes for trouble to find us once we’re on the ground,” he muttered the last part under his breath, but he certainly wasn’t wrong. 

The warrior found herself sharing her teammate’s opinion for once. All this mourning seemed so… excessive. After all, there had been revelations and losses for all of them in the past, yet Peter seemed content to be mired down in his depression forever.

“Very clever,”  Gamora  smirked, “for a  raccoon -“

“Watch it,” Rocket growled in warning, one arm instinctively reaching backwards for the gun resting on the counter behind him. He made sure to never stray too far from the weapon, always within arm’s reach should there be a need to suddenly leap into action. In their line of work, there usually was.  Gamora  didn’t retract her statement, but she didn’t quite finish it either, and that seemed to be enough for Rocket. The two of them fell into a rare, companionable silence, one that was broken every now and then by the crunching of Rocket’s snack.

“Eh, I don’t see the point in getting all caught up in this whole sob story, anyway,” the expression was punctuated by Rocket flicking the empty bag toward the trash receptacle. He stood and dusted the crumbs from his paws, pacing along the counter either search of something to wash down his meal with or more of Peter’s food to steal. “Look at us! I never even had a dad, you don’t see me crying over it. And your father -“

“ Thanos  is not my father,”  Gamora  cut him off swiftly, her tone even and steady yet as cold as the dead of space. Factual. The warrior’s hand instinctually tightened into a fist at her side. “My father died a long time ago. I hardly knew him.”

“Geez, is there ever going to be a time on this ship that someone can mention parents without someone having a nervous breakdown?” Rocket muttered, rubbing at his eyes. Part of  Gamora  wanted to snap back at him, to let the Guardian know he was being the insensitive prick he always was, but there was a lack of malice in his tone that had her reserve such harsh character criticisms. She took time to assess Rocket with an unbiased eye, to survey him as she would an opponent. 

He looked weary, affected by the negative atmosphere on the ship the way they all were. It made sense. Even being a group made up entirely of society’s greatest outcasts, the Guardians still had managed to find a sort of family with one another. Or at least, they had each found a place where each person could confidently say they belonged. What one Guardian felt, they all felt collectively. Peter’s anger and pain rippled through the team, overtook the  _Milano_  and washed it in a sort of darkness that no one could seem to completely ward off. Lump that in with the added isolation Groot had taken to recently and it was entirely understandable as to why Rocket might have been on edge. After all, it had been the two of them alone as partners for so long. No matter how much Rocket claimed to be unaffected by the changes in Groot,  Gamora  knew what she could see with her own eyes.

“You’re a pilot,”  Gamora  said, changing the subject, “why not simply take the vessel and fly it somewhere yourself?”

“Too easy,” Rocket replied, and she was pleased to see some of the invisible weight lift from his shoulders. She watched him pull that “rest of the world be damned” bravado of his back into place. “Also, uh, Quill might have locked me out of the controls.”  Gamora  actually chuckled at that. It was no secret that Rocket and Peter had a strong rivalry when it came to their respective piloting skills. Their tiffs over the subject had gotten the team into trouble in the past. 

“ So  you mean to say you  _can’t_  fly us somewhere yourself?”

“Listen, lady, I can fly any ship anywhere at any time I want,” he said, turning to face her and easily rising to her challenge. “I could break into that lock in a snap, I just… don’t feel like it right now, okay? You ever think that maybe I don’t actually  _want_  to fly us through deep space just to land us somewhere where we’re sure to get our asses kicked?”

“I know that has never stopped you before,”  Gamora  retorted. Rocket paused, his jaw working but without any sound coming out. At last he simply snapped his mouth shut with an audible click, crossed his arms and turned his back to her with an angry huff. 

“I’m not afraid of that stupid lock, just don’t feel like  dyin ’ today, that’s all…” he grumbled under his breath.  Gamora  smiled at his form as he leapt up and dug around through the cupboards, further amused.

Not for the first time,  Gamora  found herself wondering what her life would have been like had she never become a Guardian.

They continued to banter back and forth for several minutes about different subjects: what sector of space they were currently in, what planet they should stop at next, even the benefits of fighting hand-to-hand combat versus using long-range weaponry. It was the longest conversation they had ever had, and it was the first time  Gamora  felt as though there was more to Rocket than just humorless antics and a broken moral compass. For all his showmanship, Rocket still was a person. He had opinions and feelings just like everyone else, no matter how he tried to deny that. Not that  Gamora  would ever admit that she could see that within him.

They had moved to a small table in the corner now, a large bowl of fruit pieces between the two of them. It was the only food in the kitchen they could compromise on sharing…. Or as close to compromise as the two of them could get.

“You are taking all of the melon pieces,” the warrior said with a roll of her eyes, snatching one up before they were all gone.

“That’s cause they’re on my half of the bowl.”

“There is no ‘half’ that’s just for you, we’re sharing all of it.”

“This whole ‘teamwork’ thing is getting old,” Rocket sighed, but didn’t relent his constant barrage on the melon pieces specifically. 

“You would rather protect the entire galaxy by yourself?”  Gamora  questioned. Rocket looked as though he were about to confirm her words without a second thought, then hesitated. When she thought he was going to answer, he remained silent instead, staring intently at the bowl between them. The warrior didn’t ask again, taking his silence as all the answer she needed.

“What did the galaxy ever do for us anyway?” Rocket muttered, picking up a berry and inspecting it thoroughly before popping it in his mouth.  Gamora  scrunched up her nose in distaste as he continued to speak while chewing. “We sure do a lot of protecting for nothing in return.”

“That is not the point,”  Gamora  sighed. She didn’t feel like having this conversation with him again. It almost always turned into an argument when they started to discuss ethics. “I do not remember you complaining when the Nova Corp erected a statue in your honor.”

“They could have gotten the nose a little bit better,” Rocket shrugged in response, content with dropping the matter. “You  gonna  eat that?” he asked, pointing toward the fruit  Gamora  was now neglecting on her side of the bowl. She rolled her eyes and nodded her consent, not bothering to push the dish any closer. If he wanted it so badly, he could come and get it.

Hopping up onto the table, Rocket made his way over to the other side, not watching his step. He had just reached the other end when his foot caught, sending him tumbling forward into the warrior sitting across from him.  Gamora  glanced up just in time to see her teammate falling toward her, unable to do much to stop it in time.   She didn’t even think to back away until it was far too late.

The way their lips met was entirely a mistake, both of their eyes growing wide from the unexpected contact. If was different, to be sure.  Gamora  had kissed very few people in her life, and affection wasn’t exactly a value that had been instilled in her since childhood. The warrior could sense that this sort of contact was unfamiliar to Rocket as well, who was stiff as a board the entire time.

Rather than move away, they stared at one another in shock for a handful of seconds. At last,  Gamora's  mind caught up with her, and she was the one to break the kiss first. She reared her head back quickly, but didn't find herself instinctively twitching toward her sword the way she always had when Peter had kissed her.  She couldn’t even summon the strength to scowl at Rocket. After all, it had been an accident.

The phantom tickle of fur continued to dance across her lips long after the two of them had parted, the experience foreign yet not entirely... unwelcome. Rocket was rendered speechless as well, for once, as the two of them sat in awkward silence across from one another. He cleared his throat, and  Gamora  could practically see his mind working to come up with some witty one-liner to ease the sudden tension in the room.

"Don't," the warrior said, cutting the Guardian off before he could even start. Rocket blinked at her, his brow furrowing in confusion. She gave him a gentle smile. All that ever seemed to be shared among her team anymore was sorrow, it was time for a change.  Gamora  wanted to feel something jubilant, something good, emotionally satisfying. Accidental or not, that kiss had been just the sort of spirit-lifting that she needed. By the way Rocket's dark eyes glimmered and his lips curved into a genuine half-smile,  Gamora  could tell that she wasn't alone in her line of thinking.  So  no, she was not content to sit by and let the Guardian make a joke out of the first thing that had felt real in a long time. "'What happens on the  _Milano_...’"

"’Stays on the  _Milano’_ ," Rocket finished. The words lingered between them, leaving room for more to be said, but neither of them seemed keen to seize that opportunity. Not right now, at least. With a single nod,  Gamora  stood and exited the kitchen, intent on continuing her trek around the ship to clear her mind.

Several new thoughts were clouding her mind, taking the place of the weighty grief that had fallen over the entire team.   Gamora  attempted to sift through what she could, but there were simply too many ideas swirling around to organize them all at once. The warrior hesitated as she passed by the door to Peter's room, shaking her head, the smiling expression still lingering at the memory of what had transpired in the kitchen.

Maybe a few more weeks stuck onboard the  _Milano_  wouldn't be so bad after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr! [sherlockreinhold.tumblr.com](http://sherlockreinhold.tumblr.com)


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